Fraudster dupes Bandra store of Rs 8-lakh watch

Posing as a doctor from Bandra’s Lilavati Hospital, a man who cops said bore a striking resemblance to MNS chief Raj Thackeray, duped a watch store at Turner Road and made away with a high-end watch costing Rs 8 lakh.

Caught on camera: The con artist (below), in his mid-40s, was captured by the store’s CCTV on Friday

Police said that a well-dressed man in his 40s, who was captured on the store’s CCTV cameras when he visited on Friday, had mannerisms similar to the MNS chief and spoke fluent English and Hindi.

According to the cops, the impostor walked into Time Avenue store situated on Turner Road, Bandra (W) on Friday evening, and asked to see some high-end watches.

“He looked very much like Raj Thackeray. Moreover, the way he moved, his gestures, manner of speaking, attire and sunglasses were strikingly similar to Thackeray’s mannerisms,” said a police officer from Bandra police station requesting anonymity.

Police said that the swindler looked at several watches and after some time, singled out a Rolex, and told the salesman that he would collect it the following day. He did not turn up on Saturday, but on Sunday the shop received a call from a person identifying himself as Kunal Mehta, the doctor from Lilavati who had visited on Friday.

He asked the store to send someone with the watch to the hospital premises where, he promised, he would make the payment.

An attendant left for the hospital with the Rolex and as he entered the hospital premises, the fake doctor accosted him at the entrance. He told the delivery person that since he was aware that it was a holiday, he had withdrawn the money from bank and kept it with his wife, a doctor at the same hospital.

He then asked the store’s employee to give him the watch and collect the money from his wife who had her office on the first floor. The employee set off for the office only to find no one there.

“A case has been registered under sections 406 (breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code against the unknown accused. We are investigating the case,” said Abhay Pawar, police sub-inspector from Bandra police station.

“We are extending our support to the police in all possible ways and expect the fraudster to be arrested soon,” said a spokesperson for the shop.